Kyrgyzstan to brief CSTO on situation on border with Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has unilaterally closed the Madaniyat highway checkpoint on the border with Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, March 22. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan will submit the issue of the situation on a section of its border with Uzbekistan for consideration by the Permanent Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a source in the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry told TASS on Tuesday.

"The organization’s member-countries will be informed about the situation on the border during an extraordinary meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council," the ministry said, adding that the meeting would be held in the Russian capital on Tuesday.

Uzbekistan deployed two armored personnel carriers and 40 troops to the disputed border section in the Chalasart area on Friday and unilaterally closed the Madaniyat highway checkpoint on the border with Kyrgyzstan and imposed restrictions on Kyrgyz citizens’ entry at the Dostuk highway checkpoint. In response to this, the Kyrgyz side sent two armored personnel carriers and special force troops to this area and stopped the passage of Uzbek citizens and their vehicles at the Baimak, Ken-Sai and Kadamjai highway checkpoints. After that, only one checkpoint — Kyzyl-Kiya used for the passage of the residents of the Sokh and Shakhimardan enclaves — remained open on the border between the two countries. The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry fiiled a note of protest to Tashkent on March 18, demanding to remove the roadblocks in the disputed area.

On Sunday, the parties agreed to reduce the number of troops on this border section to eight people.